Medical devices, such as endoscopes or other suitable introduction sheaths are employed for a variety of diagnostic and surgical procedures, such as laparoscopy, arthroscopy, gynoscopy, thoracoscopy, and cystoscopy, etc. Many of these procedures are carried out for purposes of tissue resection, which generally includes removal of tissue of an organ or a gland to treat tumors, infestations, and the like. In particular, such procedures may be carried out by inserting an introduction sheath into a patient's body through a surgical incision, or via natural anatomical orifices (e.g., mouth, vagina, and/or rectum), and performing the procedure or operation.
The tissue resection operation may be performed during several medical procedures, which may require removal and/or carving away of tissue or tissue layers from a patient's body. Specifically, this operation may include removal of tissue overlaying and/or adjacent a region infected by cancerous tumors and/or other infections. On many occasions, tissue resection may be performed through a process widely known and referred to as electro-resectioning, which may be carried out through an electro-cautery probe.
Typically, removal of tissue through methods such as electro-resectioning includes application of a cauterization voltage to a related electrode, and steering it into a region within the patient's body. This may be enabled through known methods, which may target ablation of a tissue from, or adjacent to an area.
Snares, in particular, have been used in many medical procedures, including Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) and Endoscopic Sub-mucosal Resection (ESR), Polypectomy, Mucosectomy, etc., for resecting tissue from a target site. A snare device generally includes a snare loop formed by snare wires, which engages the tissue intended to be resected. The snare loop is controlled and operated at a proximal end of the device through a suitable actuating mechanism. However, in many conventional snare devices, the snare loop has a tendency to slip off the tissue that is desired to be ensnared. During endoscopic procedures, this problem may be partially addressed by applying a downward force with the endoscope to improve snare traction. However, such an applied force may create torsion in snare wires, and hence, may tend to rotate the snare loop. This may deflect the snare loop from the plane of the layer of tissue, and make the tissue resection difficult. Further, the snare wires, during packing, may have in-built torsional forces, which may cause unpredictable rotation of the snare loop during its engagement with the tissue.
In many Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) techniques, the submucosal layer at/adjacent to the target site is treated with a saline solution, which functions to lift the mucosal layer, forming a bleb. The bleb may facilitate easy access to, and visualization of the lesion, and may create a protective barrier at the muscularis layer. However, formation of the bleb may create tension in the mucosa surrounding the lesion, and this may make the process of snaring even more difficult.
Therefore, there remains a need for a mechanism and a method that can improve ensnarement of tissue intended to be resected, during certain medical procedures.
The present disclosure is directly to overcome the shortcomings mentioned above and other shortcomings in the art.